Affordable community of tiny homes could revitalize abandoned railway tracks

Tiny homes are beloved for their compact efficient design and they may even be useful as tools in revitalizing postindustrial sites. That’s the proposal by Polish architecture students Tomasz Zablotny and Paweł Maszota, who created Small House on Tracks, a pop-up community of affordable tiny homes set on the abandoned rail lines of Poland’s Gdańsk Shipyard. The transformable micro homes can expand to make room for new occupants and uses.

Designed for an innovative housing competition, Small House on Tracks was envisioned as a livable low-cost commune for artists, students, and workers. Each micro unit measures 1.5 meters in width, 2.09 meters in length, and 2.5 meters in height. These compact dimensions make the homes easy to transport on a truck bed or stack in a warehouse when not in use. Occupants wouldn’t be restricted to such tight quarters; once put in place, the homes can telescope out to another meter to provide extra space for living, sleeping, a kitchenette, and separate bathroom.

To maximize interior space, furniture can be flat-packed and folded into the walls. Certain facilities would be shared in the community, such as the communal showering facilities. The proposed units are topped with solar panels and constructed out of plywood and steel.

“Our idea is to create and modulate a transformable housing complex so that a certain part of the post-industrial area would always be a livable and comfortable space for artists, interns, workers or simply those to whom the unique atmosphere of the site would appeal,” said Zablotny to Dezeen. “It’s meant to be an initiative that brings back everyday life to the area, making it livable during festivals and exhibitions, but also on a day-to-day basis.”